Borell calls on Serbia to withdraw its army from the border with Kosovo

2023-09-30 12:29:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The High Representative of the European Union (EU) for Foreign Policy and Security, Josep Borrell, called on Serbia on Saturday to immediately stop the movement of the army along the border with Kosovo and to withdraw the troops deployed so far.

The movement of Serbian troops along the border with Kosovo comes about a week after the September 24 attack on the Kosovo Police in Banjska in Zveçan, where a police officer was killed.

The head of EU diplomacy told some international media that the bloc is discussing with its partners and allies about the current situation in the north of Kosovo, where the amount of weapons found by the Kosovo Police "is very serious".

Kosovo police found and confiscated an arsenal of weapons after the attack.

The responsibility for organizing the attack was taken by Millan Radoicic, the former vice-president of Lista Serbe, the largest party of Serbs in Kosovo.

Serbia has denied Kosovo's accusations that it was involved in this attack, described as a terrorist attack by the Kosovar authorities.

"At the same time, the military gathering of Serbia near the border administrative line is very disturbing. This must be stopped immediately," said Borrell.

He insisted that "there is no place for the gathering of the army and security forces on the continent of Europe. The forces must be withdrawn."

On Friday, the United States called on Serbia to withdraw troops from the border, calling their move a "very destabilizing development."

Borell expects that those responsible for the September 24 attack will be punished and that Kosovo and Serbia will return to dialogue.

"We must go back to the situation in which the parties talk and return to the dialogue facilitated by the EU, which is the only platform for the normalization of relations between them," he added.

The attack occurred about two weeks after Kurti and Vuçiqi failed to reach an agreement on normalizing relations during the high-level dialogue meeting brokered by the European Union on September 14 in Brussels.

Prishtina believes that it should be mutual recognition, while Belgrade insists on a compromise solution.

Serbia does not recognize Kosovo's independence, declared in 2008, and has the support of allies Russia and China against it for this. /REL